The research of Dr. Justin Dunnavant, an incoming professor in the UCLA Department of Anthropology, and his colleagues was recently featured as the cover story for American Archaeology Magazine. Dr. Dunnavant consults for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture Slave Wrecks Project, which is chronicled in the story. It covers their research at the Estate Little Princess in St. Croix and their forthcoming research in Africatown, Alabama.

The American Archaeology Magazine article features an excerpt HERE, and the full printed article is available HERE.

 

Dr. Ramesh Srinivasan, UCLA Professor of Graduate Studies of Education and Information Sciences and Bedari Kindness Institute Faculty Advisory Committee member, describes his work as carefully exploring the connection between new transformations in technology, political and social life, and examining these concerns around radicalization and polarization facilitated by technology.

On the day after the insurrection at the Capitol, he joined NPR to discuss what happened on January 6 and where we can go from here.

To listen to the NPR “Here and Now” interview, click HERE.

Last month, he joined Democracy Now! to “argue that we must demand greater public governance and accountability over private technology corporations who have monetized every aspect of our lives, while leaving us disoriented and in the dark.”

To listen to the Democracy Now! interview, click HERE.

In her new book The World of Plymouth Plantation, Dr. Carla Pestana, UCLA History Professor and Chair, provides a comprehensive understanding of Plymouth and adds a great deal of knowledge to what was previously known and published. These new additions and nuances contribute to a better historical account of what happened by debunking myths and connecting it to the wider world.

Interview Chapters:

0:04 – Intro

0:54 – How does the book challenge the dominant national mythology of Plymouth?

2:30 – “Connections rather than isolation sit at the heart of the Plymouth story.” Why is that important?

5:09 – Main contributions and takeaways of the book.

8:40 – How is this useful to us in contemporary times?

11:32 – Conclusion

To learn more, check out Professor Pestana’s book The World of Plymouth Plantation.

 

Subscribe to L.A. Social Science and be the first to learn more insight and knowledge from UCLA’s Division of Social Science experts and other faculty about upcoming video/audio sessions and posts about current issues.

 

UCLA Center for the Study of Women Presents:

GENDER, RACE, AND AGE BEHIND BARS:

IMPACTS OF LONG-TERM SENTENCING

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

12:15 PM – 1:30 PM

RSVP: csw.ucla.edu/behindbars

Join us for a rare opportunity to hear from two formerly-incarcerated women activists on the compounded adverse impacts of long-term sentencing on the elderly, women, transgender people, and people of color in prison and beyond.

 

 

 

 

Jane Dorotik was incarcerated for almost 20 years on a wrongful conviction. She was released in April 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns, and her conviction was reversed in July 2020.

Romarilyn Ralston was incarcerated for 23 years, and is now the Program Director of Project Rebound at the California State University-Fullerton. Both are organizers with California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP).

Dorotik and Ralston will be in dialogue with LA County Public Defender, Ricardo Garcia, and moderator Alicia Virani, the Gilbert Foundation Director of the Criminal Justice Program at the UCLA School of Law. This event is hosted by the UCLA Center for the Study of Women, and co-hosted by the Criminal Justice Program at the UCLA School of Law and the LA County Public Defender’s Office.

            

 

 

 

 

Read CSW’s 2020 Policy Briefs, “Confronting the Carceral State, Reimagining Justice, ” featuring briefs written by Jane Dorotik and Romarilyn Ralston at csw.ucla.edu/policy-briefs.

Free and open to the public.

Register for the Zoom Webinar at csw.ucla.edu/behindbars.

This activity is approved for 1 hour of general MCLE credit.

UCLA School of Law is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider.

                                

 

Dr. Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear, assistant professor of sociology and American Indian Studies at UCLA, was interviewed on missing and murdered Indigenous women by “Vice News Tonight.” This episode investigates how Indigenous women and girls go missing and are murdered at an alarming rate in the United States. Vice News visits tribal communities in Montana facing the crisis head-on.

To watch the interview, click HERE.

Dr. Vinay Lal, UCLA professor of history and Asian American Studies, takes a deep dive on the global impact of COVID-19 in his latest book, Fury of COVID-19. In this interview for the LA Social Science book series, he compares how different nation states have responded to COVID-19. He sheds light on the need for public health measures in the U.S. as well as international cooperation in order to curtail COVID. His book also addresses how social distancing complicates personal relationships. Lastly, Dr. Lal weighs in on how specifically the response in the United States has much to do with the administration’s position on climate change.

Interview Chapters:

0:04 – Intro

1:07 – What is the main point of this book?

6:39 – How did the history of countries affect their response to the pandemic?

16:13 – How do comments like “China Virus” by the administration affect international cooperation?

To learn more, check out Professor Lal’s book, Fury of COVID-19.

 

Subscribe to LA Social Science and be the first to learn more insight and knowledge from UCLA’s Division of Social Science experts and other faculty about upcoming video/audio sessions and posts about current issues.

Dr. Kelly Lytle Hernandez, professor of African American Studies, Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History and Urban Planning, has been elected to the Pulitzer Prize Board. This prize named after Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, is administered at Columbia University. Dr. Lytle Hernandez said, “I am thankful for this opportunity to work with fellow Board members in celebrating a diverse community of journalists, scholars and artists, and look forward to the work ahead.” LA Social Science would like to congratulate the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies Director.

To read the press release about Dr. Lytle Hernandez’s election to the Pulitzer Prize Board, click HERE.

Photo Credit: The Source

In his essay in The Source, Dr. Kyle T. Mays, UCLA Assistant Professor in the Department of African American Studies, American Indian Studies, and History, cites last month’s Native American Heritage Month as a time “to reflect on a history of genocide, and to consider what we collectively owe to the people upon whose land we all currently live.” Dr. Mays discusses the realities of Native Americans in the United States through the lens of Native American Hip Hop (NAHH) that he describes as “one of the best representations of Native sovereignty.”

To read the full essay, click HERE.

Dr. Carla Gardina Pestana, UCLA Professor and Joyce Appleby Endowed Chair of America in the World in the Department of History, discusses the #MeToo Moment on Plymouth Plantation in an essay for “The Conversation.” Dr. Pestana points out that gender dynamics often get short shrift when reflecting on the histories of Plymouth colony.

John Blanding/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

In the essay, Dr. Pestana describes one account from her new book, The World of Plymouth Plantation. It is the story of John Lyford, who was found guilty of rape in Ireland and driven out of his community. Mr. Lyford moved on to Plymouth Plantation after being driven out, and would have continued to harm others if his past had not caught up with him.

To read the full essay, click HERE.

 

 

UCLA’s Luskin Center for History and Policy (LCHP) has continued to be a leading voice in connecting past to present. The center’s “Then & Now” podcast has tackled some of the most challenge topics of the day by connecting them to the past. As a follow-up to their last pre-election episode, Dr. Lynn Vavreck and Zev Yaroslavsky return to “Then & Now,” joined by Dr. Lorrie Frasure, to analyze the 2020 election results. They discuss a range of key topics: President Trump’s refusal to concede, the persistence of divided electorates in U.S. history, the political behavior of white men, the performance and reliability of polling, and the question of whether American democracy is dying.

  • Lorrie Frasure is an Associate Professor of Political Science and African American Studies at UCLA, and Acting Director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.
  • Lynn Vavreck is the Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics and Public Policy at UCLA, a contributing columnist to The Upshot at The New York Times, and the author or co-author of five books on electoral politics.
  • Zev Yaroslavsky is the Executive Director of the LA Initiative at the Luskin School of Public Affairs. He served as LA City Council Member from 1975 to 1994, and as LA County Supervisor from 1994 to 2014.

To hear this informative podcast, click HERE.